Soils under fire
Subtitle: soils research and the Joint Fire Science Program
By: Heather E. Erickson and Rachel White.
Contributors: White, Rachel.; Joint Fire Science Program (U.S.); Pacific Northwest Research Station (Portland, Or.)
Series: General technical report PNW -- GTR-759; General technical report PNW -- 759.
Publisher: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Portland, OR
Language: eng
Number of pages: 17
Subjects: Fire ecology; Soils -- Environmental aspects; Wildfires -- Environmental aspects; Prescribed burning -- Environmental aspects
Description: Soils are fundamental to a healthy and functioning ecosystem. Therefore, forest land managers can greatly benefit from a more thorough understanding of the ecological impacts of fire and fuel management activities on the vital services soils provide. We present a summary of new research on fire effects and soils made possible through the Joint Fire Science Program and highlight management implications where applicable. Some responses were consistent across sites, whereas others were unique and may not easily be extrapolated to other sites. Selected findings include (1) postfire soil water repellency is most likely to occur in areas of high burn severity and is closely related to surface vegetation; (2) although wildfire has the potential to decrease the amount of carbon stored in soils, major changes in land use, such as conversion from forest to grasslands, present a much greater threat to carbon storage; (3) prescribed fires, which tend to burn less severely than wildfires and oftentimes have minor effects on soils, may nonetheless decrease species richness of certain types of fungi; and (4) early season prescribed burns tend to have less impact than late season burns on soil organisms, soil carbon, and other soil properties.
Notes: "May 2008."

Includes bibliographical references.

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